Skinny People

Land of the Skinny People is turning into a preferred hike for many of the guests so Jax and I get to do it again.

Kobae Does Hurrah Pass

Kobae headed down the drive way while I was still doing check ins and check outs. Brandon innocently said "You want me to go with him?" not knowing the implications of hiking with Kobae. They headed down the driveway. An hour and some change later Brandon called on the walkie to say they were headed up Hurrah and they were to where the drop offs start on the left side and he hadn't stopped even once.

Jax and I head up to take the second shift and Kobae is a man on a mission. Brandon says he will take water next time, and a book, and shade, and........

As we headed up Hurrah these were my favorite comments. "You're the second guy today we've seen hiking with a tortoise." "Did you know there was another guy hiking with that same tortoise earlier today?" "Do you have to hike with a wild turtle when you see one? I mean, are they endangered or something?"

Saturday Morning

Saturday morning Jax and I did the Skinny People hike with a guest.

Tis the Season

It's hiking time for Kobae and though he's a lot of work he's funny and entertaining and I get to read a lot while I'm hiking with him. As Brandon takes over more of the workload at Base Camp and the season winds down I'm going to milk as many Kobae hikes as I can before it's time to take him to San Diego. On Friday we did a short hike down to the beach/river where he got in deep mud and I couldn't take anymore pictures because I was trying to save his life which happens about every fourth or fifth hike.

In the afternoon after a boot change he hiked down the driveway into the dead end canyon by #9 where I can't lift him by myself anymore to get him out and then he turned around and hiked back to the lodge.

The Creek Bed

On Thursday Jax and I did a short hike with Kobae dropping into the creek bed at the bottom of the hill and hiking out to the river next to the boat ramp. There I had to turn Kobae around before he got to the river because of the dark and then grayish color of the mud next to the boat ramp. If it's not quicksand it's the next closest thing and years ago he got in some and I barely got him out.

This creek bed now 50 feet wide is some spots and 15 feet deep I use to jump across when I moved here 12 plus years ago. It didn't change much for the first five or six years and then one year we had one of those once in 100 year storms, then we had four more of them in the next 15 days and it changed significantly. Just in this short section you can see where the sides have caved in and it continues to get wider and deeper.

Mr. In Between

There was a short series on TV a few weeks ago called Mr. InBetween. Was a sort of strange series on a nice guy but with a violet behavior of sorts.

On Wednesday I went hiking with Kobae and Jax and I was a different sort of Mr. In Between. Jax would be way up front leading the way as always yet I had to stay close enough to Kobae to keep him from getting run over and to include he rarely does things in his best interest. When people ask how old he will live to be I tell them about two to three days after I'm gone. I save his life about twice a week. It reminds me of the scene in Groundhog Day with Bill Murray where the kid falls out of the tree at the same time every day and Bill catches him over and over and says something to the effect of you've never thanked me once. Same thing.

Mystery Solved and Another Evolves

Over the years I've finally figured out how much watering all the various plants and trees need except the Cottonwood tree. I think the Cottonwood enjoys, like Kobae, like the Ravens, messing with me. Yellow is not enough water, brown is too much, and they can both appear on the same limb at the same time. With eight of the last twelve days having a rain participant the Cottonwood is sprouting all new really green leaves. So I've been under watering it despite pouring up to eight to twelve gallons of water a day on it. I'm not sure it's water amounts and time are worth the tree especially in comparison to everything else put together doesn't require that much water.

A single mushroom appears out of a cow pie.

The Changing of the Birds

I'd have to check blog history to see if there is a particular date but it's almost time. There are only a few cowbirds left in the Cottonwood tree. Soon, very soon, the last few cowbirds will leave and the same day the red-winged blackbirds arrive and for the third Monday night in a row the dark clouds are rolling in and Tuesday is shaping up to be a rescue people everywhere day. Best I go get some sleep and be prepared.

You Can Be Too Good At Your Job

I've only given Jax permission to chase rock squirrels that are by guest's vehicles and he's done an excellent job. I haven't even seen a rock squirrel in over a week. Still, I'll leave the front screen door open and watch Jax walk down the driveway four or five times a day and sniff all the cars and not finding any rock squirrels he'll lay down in the shade praying to dog Gods that a rock squirrel makes a run for it.

I've got to say Jax is a pretty smart dog. As his guarding vehicles in the parking lot duties have faded I've been giving Kobae about a ten minute head start and then asking Jax to find him and he's taking it seriously. If Kobae has left the porch twice during the day Jax will still sometimes take the older of the two trails but if not he is dead on finding Kobae in the first few minutes and picking up his trail. He use to look at me like "why do we want to find Kobae".

Skinny People

This morning Jax and I got in a hike with some guests out to Land of the Skinny People and back. What a nice day.

No Shortage of Assholes

This is what the area next to the Sand Hill that use to have a fence across it before some asshole tore it down looks like now. While Kobae, Jax, and I hiked up the slope we saw five vehicles go into the dead end canyon and tear it up that also use to have a fence across it until another asshole tore it down. I put it back up occasionally but apparently there's no shortage of assholes. I'm pretty sure there's a factory somewhere just producing assholes.

Short Hikes

Whenever Jax and I can get an hour hike in we take it from the bottom of the Anti Cline to Hall's Place.

I Guess It's Your Perspective

Guests in a Jeep pull up and get out looking like they have been through a war. They give me a little grief about how bad the road is (it isn't) and say they can't believe they made it and thankfully they had four wheel drive which they were in the whole way here. I haven't used it in years. They are concerned with them barely making it that their friend who is coming later (also in a jeep) will never make it in the dark. I suggest that perhaps this isn't the place for them or their friend but if they want let's have their friend call from town and I'll go meet him halfway and he can follow me to the lodge. I get five more minutes of how dangerous it will be for him, despite following me, and then they still have to drive out again in two days. I suggest perhaps they should go and stay in town and if they'll cancel the reservation, when the request comes in, I'll ask HomeAway to refund all their money (versus having to listen to them talk about their near death experience again).

They drive off for town and to save their friend's life. Not long after a Chevy Malibu and another passenger car, neither with ground clearance or four wheel drive show up. I ask about the road and they both say "It was great. No problem."

Short Hike

It's busy and a lot of the time lately Jax and I haven't been able to get out for our morning hike so when some guests said they weren't sure how to get to the Wind Caves we jumped in and I drove them over, pointed out the caves and we got a quick hike back. Just as the sandbars were starting to emerge again another rain has buried them.

The Saddle

Brandon especially, and I have been spending an unusual amount of time repairing the driveways from the previous nights rains and I got this first picture while putting a couple hundred shovels of dirt on a two foot drop off on the driveway from next door.

The Sky

Most evenings the sky has had unique formations that I've not seen before or rarely.